


What's so great about Nanase Haruka anyway?

by Tedashee



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Crying Haru, Eventual Nanase Haruka/Yamazaki Sousuke, Eventual Smut, I'm gonna make Haru cry, Love/Hate, M/M, Minor mentions of a lot of characters, Multi, One-Sided Relationship, Rough Sex, Self Prompt, Sexual Tension, SouHaru
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-17
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-02-09 06:59:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1973292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tedashee/pseuds/Tedashee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke challenges Haru to a race for Rin's heart and also to answer his questions, and find out what makes Haru so special</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is completely unbeta-ed so if the way it's written is weird to anyone...become my beta! *thumbs up*
> 
> Anyway, there's gonna be a lot of love/hate interactions with these two guys so prepare for angst and rough sex somewhere along the line. Eventually, because I want some plot in here.

Propping his chin up on his palm, Sousuke sipped his latte lazily, cerulean eyes scanned the small cafe briefly. Seemed like he wasn't here yet. What a surprise. He scoffed softly and closed his eyes, thinking back to how this started. 

Not surprisingly, it was all Nanase Haruka's fault.

 

About two weeks after his race with the other freestyle swimmer, the two teams had met up again. 'Its important to practice with Iwatobi's team since they're our future competitors in regionals. This way we can keep tabs on them.' Rin had said following his conversation with his sister, the two agreeing on joint practices biweekly for the two teams. The Iwatobi team showed up in the afternoon and immediately got to swimming, the two teams doing laps together to warm up. It had been simple, until Nagisa said-

"I want to see Haru-chan and Sousuke-kun race!" He grinned rather impishly at his teammate, who simply shrugged and lazily trailed his fingers through the water. 

Sousuke smirked and put aside the towel on his shoulders, winking at the raven as he stretched his arms above his head. "What do you say Nanase? Up for a race?" He asked in a low voice. 

The shorter male shrugged and straightened up. "Fine." He murmured, climbing onto the board and pulling his goggles down over his eyes. He chuckled and followed suit, getting into the starting position. 

"It's just gonna be from here to the end of the lane, and back. That sound good?" Rin huffed in annoyance when neither male answered him. "I'll take that as a yes." He murmured, whistling loudly for them to start. Both swimmers dived into the water, going under briefly before powerful limbs brought them back up to the surface, with Sousuke in the lead but Haru a close second as they reached the end of the lane. Rolling so his feet could touch the wall, Sousuke prepared push himself off when he noticed the smaller swimmer. Instead of the usual concentrated frown that most would have in a race, Haruka looked completely peaceful. As if he had forgotten they were even racing. Blue eyes revealed a tranquil happiness that only Haru could explain. It was different from the usual blank mask he had always seen from him, and he couldn’t help but be surprised.

Was he that confident in beating him that he didn’t even need to focus on the race?

This just made him frown even more as he pushed off, heading back towards the opposite wall. He was still a nationally recognized swimmer, and Haruka was-

Neck and neck with him.

Sousuke narrowed his eyes and turned his attention forward. He could see the end. His teammates were cheering for him to win. And the brunette had not intention of letting them down. Casually turning his gaze to look at his opponent again, all he could see was the same serene expression on his face. What the actual hell?

Both swimmers slammed their palms into the concrete of the pool and stood up, and he left Iwatobi’s swimmer to catch his breath as he climbed out of the pool.

“Nice job Sousuke~” Turning to give Rin a charming smile he grabbed his towel, starting to dry off. 

“So I won? Naturally.”

“Tied with Haru. Work on making your strokes longer and I think you’ll defeat him next time.” Sousuke paused and looked up at his captain, trying not to look as surprised as he felt. The sound of loud congratulations made him look in the direction of the Iwatobi team, who were congratulating their swimmer. Haruka rolled his eyes and flicked Nagisa’s forehead, saying something that Sousuke couldn’t catch before grabbing his own towel. Their eyes met briefly. They stared at each other, another silent challenge issued before the raven looked away, asking Makoto for a water bottle and taking a seat. Sousuke tsked and watched him with a serious expression. Rin was talking to Haruka now, quiet words exchanged before his captain started laughing and patted him on the shoulder. “Annoying…” He murmured, turning to look over the pool once more.

Dressed in Samezuka’s uniform once more, he leaned against the outer wall of the school, waiting till he heard the sound of footsteps and ‘Sousuke-san?’ as Kou appeared beside him. “You said you wanted to ask me something?”

“Yeah...I was wondering if I could have the phone numbers for your team. I might want to do one on one practices with Ryuugazaki after all, since he’s butterfly. Or Nanase.” The girl nodded silent agreement and fished a notepad out of her purse, scribbling down a series of numbers before handing it to him. “I’ve got to go catch up with my brother, it was nice to see you again Sousuke-san!”

“You too Kou, and thanks for this.” He waved until she disappeared from his sight, lowering his hand to his pocket and pulling out his phone. He had to send a message after all.

‘Meet me at the cafe off Tokigawa Station tomorrow after classes let out. Yamazaki.’

 

And now he was sitting by himself in the cafe, nearly done with his coffee. Seemed like Nanase wasn’t going to show after all. Sousuke sighed and drained his cup, opening his eyes to see the man in question sitting in front of him, the usual stoic expression in place as he sipped at his own coffee. “Nanase, nice to see you could make it.”

“Are you going to tell me why you called me here or not?” He murmured around his straw.

He chuckled under his breath and stared at the other swimmer, taking in his expression. The strange desire to see his serene expression again came to mind. Though that wasn’t the only expression he wanted to see.

“There’s an annual spring race that brings in swimmers from all over Japan. Nothing too grand, but you get your picture in the paper if you win and a gift card. Boring stuff.” The raven spared him a glance briefly but then his gaze returned to the window. “It’s in May, when the beach is supposedly warm enough to swim. We’ll practice together every week until the race. It doesn’t matter if someone else takes first place, as long as you beat me or vice versa. And the winner…”

Haruka arched an eyebrow and turned to look at him, confusion evident in his eyes.

“The winner gets Rin.”


	2. A challenge is issued

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone thinks that one of the characters is too OOC please let me know because sometimes I feel like my Haru is just...a bit off somehow. Though it could just be me...hopefully it's just me.

“...You’re something of an idiot aren’t you?” Haruka sighed and turned his attention out the window again. “Rin isn’t a trophy to win, some reward that you get for not coming in last. He’s a person, so even if one of us wins he might still be in love with the other.” 

“Excuse me, maybe I should rephrase my words.” He leant forward till their faces were almost touching, turquoise eyes locking with sapphire ones. “The loser cannot have Rin. If you lose, you can’t ask Rin on a date, if he asks you out you have to refuse him…..I think you get the picture.” Sousuke said, his cheek resting in the palm of his hand. “So what do you say, are you up for it?”

The two of them just stared at each other silently as the seconds ticked by, neither of willing to look away. Haru finally looked back down at his drink, playing the straw absentmindedly. “Fine. I’ll race you.” The raven drained the rest of his coffee and stood, looking at Sousuke. “When are we going to meet up?”

“In the evenings after our joint practices, at Samezuka. That way we’ll have the pool to ourselves.” He stood up as well, a smirk tugging at his lips. The shorter male nodded once and walked past him, tossing out the plastic cup before exiting the cafe. He left as well, watching the other male disappear from sight before heading back towards the Academy.

 

Sousuke perched on the edge of the pool, watching the raven float down one lane as he dried off. From what he'd observed Haru was a graceful swimmer. His stroke was smooth and precise, and he could definitely see why anyone would stop to just watch him swim through the water like he belonged there. And his swimming wasn't just beautiful, he made good times as well.  
That being said, he was far from perfect.

'Rin said that last year was the first time he'd done any competitive swimming since primary school. That explained why he lost three races to me in a row.' He tsked and squeezed out the ends of his hair. It'd always been a loss by a few seconds, if that, but was still a loss.

Haruka didn't seem too affected by his losses anyway. He didn't seem to care about this situation at all, now that he thought about it. Strange. Well, considering this was Haru, not that strange. Sousuke shrugged to himself and looked out the windows at the indigo colored sky, humming to himself. They'd only met up for three practices so far but he was confident that he had this in the bag. 'Just you wait Rin...as soon as Haruka's is no longer an obstacle, I tell you what I should have told you so long ago...'

"Haruka...why do you have such a feminine name?" Rather accusatory blue eyes landed on him as said swimmer climbed out of the pool and sat on the edge, grabbing a towel and beginning to dry his hair.

"My mother wanted a girl obviously. She picked out the name she liked ahead of time, and then decided not to change her mind." He shrugged and stared out over the water. "Sousuke, why are your eyes so droopy?"

Now it was his turn to frown at the other. "It's hereditary. What's wrong with having droopy eyes anyway?" He asked, trying not to pout.

"There's nothing wrong with it. But you asked a question so I asked a question."

"Fine, I'll ask another question. Why don't you put your all into swimming?"

"I always put my all into swimming."

"I've seen you when you swim. While most people put all their passion into their stroke, to fuel their competitive spirit...you don't." Sousuke's gaze slid back over the other swimmer. "You're completely at ease. How can you possibly put your all into your swimming when you're so relaxed?"

Haruka shrugged again, "That's how you see it. Why shouldn't I be relaxed, I'm in the water. I don't need to fight it." He said, sounding rather bored though Sousuke could swear that he saw a sparkle in his eyes. "I put my all into swimming."

"All the time?"

"...Yeah." Haru stood up and headed towards the locker room, with the taller swimmer right behind him. "Sousuke, tell me..."

"Hmm?"

"Do you like mackerel?"

Sousuke snorted as he started getting changed, pulling his shirt over his head. "Eh...it's not bad. I prefer tilapia though." He said quietly, watching the other change out the corner of his eye.

"Mmm." Finished up, Haru pulled on a light jacket and grabbed his gym bag, walking towards the exit and out the door. He sighed and got up, grabbing his bag as well before heading towards the dorms.

 

Pushing open the door to his room and walking in, he was only semi surprised to see his object of his affections waiting for him expectantly, a suspicious frown on his face. "Care to explain why you've been going for midnight swims recently?"

"I've been trying to get some practice in." He dropped his bag on the floor and climbed up to his bed, dropping onto it with muted thud. "Regionals will be here before you know it."

"Sousuke, we've got plenty of time. Don't push yourself too hard, we can afford to take a break right now." Rin said, turning a frown on his friend. "I barely see you."

"We see each other every day."

"You're either heading to the pool or studying half the time!" This was practically whining by now, with the maroon haired teen pouting at the other swimmer. "...We haven't seen each other in five years, and now it's like you're avoiding me again."

Sousuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The last thing he wanted to do was tell Rin what was going on, but he didn't him thinking that he was being avoided either. "I'm sorry. I'm trying to get used to the transfer, and if I don't keep my grades up they'll drop me from the swim club. Then we'll see even less of each other." He said quietly, making eye contact with Rin. "Let me make it up to you. There's going to be a festival this weekend, wanna go? Just the two of us."

"...Fine. But you're not off the hook completely until you buy me spicy curry too."

"I think I can arrange that~" Sousuke murmured, a grin tugging at his lips. 'It's a date then.'


	3. Chapter 3

Sousuke silently rejoiced at having the chance to see the wonderful sight in front of him.

Rin in a yukata.

Rin. In a yukata.

'Thank you for looking out for me Kami-sama.' He prayed silently, clasping his hands together. Things were finally looking up.

"Sousuke what are you doing?" Rin asked as he walked beside him, giving his friend a confused look.

"Nothing!" Sousuke smiled as innocently as he shoved his hands into his pockets, focusing his gaze ahead. The closer they got to the site of the festival, the more civilians started crowding the sidewalk. Slipping his hand into Rin's he pulled him closer, swinging their hands as they walked. 

"Don't get lost from me."

"Id-idiot, what are you doing..." A bright red blush bloomed all over his face as he looked at the ground. "Sousuke this is embarrassing." He mumbled.

He shrugged a bit, interlacing their fingers. "Hey, if you're that embarrassed you could always let go." 

"...Just come on!" Rin pulled the brunette after him and onto the festival grounds, muttering under his breath. "I still want my spicy curry."

"We should do a few things before we get food you know."

"Fine fine...oh wait, let's go over there!"

Sousuke arched an eyebrow as the other male dragged him over to smaller crowd gathered in front of a stage. The sound of quiet arguing filtered through to him past the sounds of excited chatter. 'I wonder what that's all about...' He wondered, two girls coming on stage decked in face paint and flashy outfits. One of them waved eagerly to the crowd while the other one stood off the side a bit, just watching as the other girl addressed the crowd. The two launched into their act shortly; juggling batons and riding unicycles across the stage, a short knife throwing demonstration that they picked Rin to be the volunteer for and finally a fire swallowing before they both bowed and got off stage. The maroon haired teen was still talking about it excitedly as they got in line for curry.

"The knife was this close to me Sousuke! This close!" He grinned and shook his head. "Ah...I always thought it would be cool to do tricks like that."

"When was that? You've always been a swimming maniac." Sousuke quipped as they got up to the counter to order their food.

"Well...anytime I saw the circus..."

He just laughed and handed the curry over to Rin, before taking his own and leading him over to a table. "That's what I thought."

"Shut up you used to think it was cool too." He puffed out his cheeks like a child and started eating, humming in satisfaction. Sousuke smiled at his friends happy expression, starting to eat   
as well.

"Hey Rin...would you consider this a da-"

"Excuse me!" Both males turned to look at the source of the voice, a blond girl about middle school age. 

Rin squinted before pointing a finger at the girl. "You're the girl who was onstage right?" He asked, grinning when he bobbed a nod.

"Yeah...I was wondering if you saw my partner, Tsubaki...I haven't seen her since the show ended, and we go on in ten minutes..." She said, biting her lip. "I'm sorry to ask, but you're the only one who saw her up close..."

"Sure, I don't mind helping." Rin looked over at the brunette, arching an eyebrow. "Sousuke?"

"Sure. Do you have a picture of her?" 

The girl nodded and pulled out her phone, showing her a picture of a stoic faced black haired girl   
with freckles. "This is her."

"Alright, let's split up. Sousuke, you take this side and I'll take the other." The other swimmer said as he got up, looking down at the girl with a confident grin. "Don't worry about it, we'll find her in no time~" He winked before jogging off.

"Jeez..." He sighed and nodded to the girl. "Go wait at the stage, in case you need to go on before she returns. One of us will find her." He remarked before he jogged off in the same direction. Somehow he knew that had a feeling that the girl wouldn't be hiding in a crowd of people. Walking to the less crowded areas, he skirted around the booths and headed towards the trees. Sure enough, he spotted the back of someone's head near one of the smaller trees and cleared his throat. "Tsubaki?" He called out.

The girl didn't jump at her name though she seemed more than a little surprised to see him, and frowned as he got closer. "The huge onii-san from the crowd..." She muttered, crossed her arms. "What do you want?"

"I was sent to look for you." He stopped and leaned against the tree, smiling down at the little girl.   
"Your friend is looking for you."

"When she leaves it's alright, but when I leave it's a problem."

"What do you mean?"

"She's leaving tomorrow...she's going to America."

"So this is your last day to spend together? You should be there for her."

"...I just want her to know how I feel for once. She's going away and she'll make new friends and then she's going to stop talking to me. I might never see her again. And even if she does come back, she might not even talk to me again...Is it selfish that I don't want her to leave?"  
Sousuke frowned at a small pang in his chest as he listened to her words, looking away. "It's not selfish. ..it's natural. She's leaving you behind after all. Whenever someone leaves you it's going to leave a scar...and you feel like it'll never heal without that person coming back to you. But then..." His words trailed off and he shook his head. "No matter what, you should try to be there for your friend. Even if she's not there for you." Patting her head he turned around and started walking back the way he came. The sound of foot falls behind him told him that the girl was walking after him.

"Your friend..." Sousuke arched an eyebrow and looked at her over his shoulder. "Did he or she ever come back?"

"Yes he did."

"Did you stay friends while he was gone?"

"..." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "...I don't know...."

 

"The second show was even better that the first one!" Rin grinned and adjusted the mask on the side of his head, nudging his friend who seemed to be deep in thought at the moment. "Didn't you think so Sousuke?"

"Hmm?" The brunette blinked and turned to look at the other, before nodding quickly. "Yeah, it was..."

"You alright? You've seemed a little off since the show started..."

"Yeah, fine. Just uh...hungry. I didn't get to finish my curry unlike someone."

"Sorry~" He chuckled sheepishly. "You never told me...how did you find the kid so fast?"  
Sousuke shrugged a shoulder, "Dunno. I'm good at finding people?" He said, looking up once they reached the dorms. "Ah, we're back."

"Yeah..." Rin sighed happily before grinning at his friend. "You go ahead in, I've gotta go run an errand."

"An errand?" He repeated, looking slightly confused as the maroon haired man waved before jogging off. Opening the door and closing it after him, Sousuke kicked off his shoes and climbed onto his bunk, staring at the ceiling.

But then you don't know if they're healing your scars or reopening the wound.


	4. Jumping to assumptions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really sorry for this taking so long! I started college and got wrapped up in things so...yeah. But I have definitely not forgotten about this story! I will definitely finish it~
> 
> Thanks for putting up with me so far. And thank you for all the comments and suggestions from the readers, I appreciate it~

Chapter 4

"Haru-chan!"

Haruka sighed softly before turning to look at Nagisa, the eternally cheerful smile almost blinding him. 'How was it possible for one person to be so damn happy...' "Don't add 'chan'." He muttered as the blonde sat down beside him.

"But Haru-chan fits you!" He grinned and wrapped his arms around Haruka's shoulders. "Anyway! Where have you been disappearing to recently?"

"What do you mean?"

"You keep disappearing in the afternoon! First it was only every two days, but then it was like everyday!"

"...Have you been stalking me?"

"Uh, no?"

"Swimming of course."

Nagisa huffed and squeezed his shoulder tighter, "That's not helpful! Isn't swimming with us enough?" He asked, before gasping loudly. "Are you gonna start swimming competitively? Like really competitively?"

He opened his mouth to say 'no way' but paused. The thought hadn't even occurred to him, but now that he mentioned it...Haruka frowned as he thought it over, ignoring Nagisa's continuing chatter.

No. He didn't want to swim competitively. 

"I guessed it correctly didn't I? Smarter than I look~" The other male arched an eyebrow in confusion, but stayed silent. If he wanted to assume that then he wouldn't correct him. 

"Anyway! I'm glad it's nothing serious!" The other continued as he got up, patting Haruka on the back. "Ah, also, I wanted to tell you that there's something about Rin. He actually has-"

"NA-GI-SAAA!" Both heads turned to stare at the owner of the voice, watching as Rei ran up to the table and shook Nagisa. "You drew on my omelet again! I told you to stop doing that, it ruins the beauty of my food!"

"But it looks so much better with a butterfly on it!" The blonde countered, his attention completely off of Haruka as said swimmer got up, took the empty bento box and walked off. He had wanted to ask Nagisa what did Rin have that was so interesting. 'Maybe he got scouted?' ran through his mind briefly before he just shrugged it off. He would have told them if something like that had happened anyway. Nagisa was probably jumping to conclusions in whatever it was. That thought quelled his interest in the matter, and he headed off to class.

 

By the time Haruka showed up at Samezuka, Sousuke was already swimming laps, and didn't seem to notice him even as he climbed into the pool and got into the lane beside him. The silence didn't bother either of them, since both were very focused on their own swimming. What did bother him slightly was the growing connection between the two of them, especially when they weren't in the pool. As they spent more time together, Sousuke talked to him a bit more, just complaining about small things at first before talking about climatic races and broken records, most of which were his own victories. He responded with well timed nods; he was more of a listener than a talker as the other soon noticed. Occasionally he muttered a comment about how he couldn't possibly be 'that' great of a swimmer or something along those lines, after which the taller swimmer shoved him into the water with a grin. They barely talked about anything else that didn't include swimming stories, and the object of their affections was rarely brought up.  
'Aren't we supposed to be competing for Rin? That was the whole point of this...' He pushed off the wall as he began swimming for the other side, focused more on his thoughts than actually swimming for a change. It wasn't until his sixth lap that he noticed something in front of him, when his train if thoughts as interrupted by him bumping into something hard and warm, making him stand up to face Sousuke. "Yes?"

He looked him over with a rather annoyed expression before crossing his arms. "You didn't even greet me."

"Sorry." Haruka shrugged a shoulder, why did it really matter? "Ah, I forgot to ask, how was your outing with Rin?"

"Did Rin tell you about it?"

"Makoto."

"...Huh. Anyway, it was nice. We went to a festival, but we got side tracked when this little girl went missing. I found her and all was well."

A soft smile replaced the usual stoic expression on Haruka's face, "What a surprise; a child finding a child." He said cheerfully, trying not to laugh.

Before he could even react, his shoulders connected with the pool wall hard, his head bobbing back then forward as he scowled up at Sousuke, who was holding onto his arms tightly. "No physical for verbal." The brunette didn't reply, continuing to stare at him silently. Haruka's scowl eventfully softened into a confused frown, more worried than anything at this point. "Sousuke? It was just a joke-"

"Can I kiss you?"

He nearly choked on air as his eyes went wide, unable to do anything but gape at him for several seconds. "What?" Haruka finally managed to get out, the word hesitant and confused as the speaker.

"Can I kiss you?" He repeated, one hand lifting the other male's chin and leaning down, his lips inches away from the others' already.

The shorter swimmer didn't even know what possessed him to nod. The movement was small but noticeable and Sousuke's mouth was on his, the kiss gentle despite the hard grip on his biceps. Haruka's eyes closed tightly as he stood on tiptoes, kissing him back slowly. The tight hold on his upper arms finally loosened and let go as the brunette pulled out of the kiss, a soft and somewhat appreciative grin on his face as he watched the other avert his eyes. Patting his shoulder slightly he climbed out of the pool and grabbed a towel, nodding towards Haruka. "Night Haru-chan. Cute smile~" He practically purred as he grabbed his bag and left the pool area. Haruka stayed in the water awhile longer, just watching the surface ripple with every small movement before he climbed out of and grabbed his towel and bag, his mind replaying the kiss over and over as he finally headed home.


	5. Sniffles

"ACHOO!" The sounded of a sneeze echoed briefly before dying out as Haru sniffed, rubbing his nose with a bored look.

Makoto on the other hand looked worried as the smaller swimmer opened his locker, dropping his damp towel on the bench. "If you're catching something you should go home and rest Haru-chan."

Haru merely shrugged a bit and pulled on his shirt, followed my sweat pants over his jammers. Feeling another cough ticking his throat, he buried his face in his elbow, muffling a cough. Makoto's soft laughter only irritated him more. "...Rest...might not be such a bad idea." He admitted.

The taller swimmer smiled and handed over him his gym bag. "Rest up Haru. Captain's orders."

Bobbing a small nod in response, he murmured a quiet goodbye and headed out of the school.

All he wanted to do right now was go to sleep.

 

The sound of knocking stirred Haru from his sleep, blue eyes squinting at his open bedroom door. Pushing himself into a sitting position, he fished over the side of his bed for pajama pants, pulling them on quickly. "Hold on!" His voice, pained and thin was no doubt unheard by his visitor because the knocking only continued. Stumbling to the door, Haru yanked it open, only to stare up at the man still reaching to knock on his door.

Yamazaki Sousuke smiled down at him, crossing his arms. "Hey there Nanase."

Haru stepped back and slammed the door right in his face. God that noise just made his headache throb. He could hear laughter on the other side of the door, which only annoyed him more.

"Nanase, are you going to let me in?" Sousuke asked as he rapped on the door again. "I promise not to bite." The door opened once more albeit slowly and Haru walked back into the house, leaving Sousuke to follow him. "So I heard that you're sick. Did you walk home in the rain? Forget your towel and didn't dry off properly?" He questioned as Haru collapsed onto his bed.

"You got me sick. I was perfectly fine till you kissed me." He mumbled, watching Sousuke take a seat at the end of his bed. Everything ached. He yawned just as his eyes slipped shut, immediately dozing off.

"How did I get you sick when I'm not even..." His words trailed off when he noticed Haru was sleeping peacefully. Reaching over to brush hair from a sweaty forehead, he pressed the back of his hand against Haru's forehead.

Yup. Definitely feverish.

Haru hummed in quiet contentment at the cool hand on his heated skin, barely protesting as his clothes were removed carefully. Sousuke wanted to chide him for his own carelessness- anyone could take advantage of Haru like this. "I got you sick he says. Your own lack of care probably got you sick." Sousuke left the bedroom and walked until he found the bathroom, plugging the tub and turning on the water. Part of him was berating himself- why in the world was he trying to take care of Haru of all people? He was trying to take Rin away from him. If he got sick, so what? But as annoying as Haru could be, all Sousuke could think about was how cute he looked when he smiled right before he kissed him. And after actually spending time with Haru, he actually wasn't so bad. He listened to when he talked, was rather witty when he actually spoke, and overall he was just...cute. He sighed in exasperation and turned off the water.

This was just going to be a favor to Rin. That was all. And he would continue to tell himself that even as he moved Haru to the bathtub and put him in, propping him up so he wouldn't drown while Sousuke looked around for a towel. Thank god it was a bubble bath- it obscured majority of the male's body. Don't think about the fact that he's naked. Don't think about the fact that he's completely vulnerable to anything he wanted to do- hell what was he thinking? He didn't want to do anything to Haru. He wanted Rin. It was always Rin in his heart. "You're way too trusting..." He muttered, checking Haru's temperature with his hand. Luckily the smaller swimmer had cooled down a lot. He seemed to be sleeping a lot easier as well. "Probably cause he's in his natural habitat." He chuckled at his own joke, humming as he pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of Haruka, sleeping amidst the bubbles. He was never getting rid of this picture. Sousuke eventually drained the tub and toweled him off, moving Haru back to his bed. "Let's see...all liquid diet. Lots of fruit. Cool cloth. Monitor the patient's temperature. I can do that." He murmured, pulling a thin sheet over Haru before leaving the room.

When Haruka finally woke up, the first thing he noticed was the fact that under his blanket, he was stark naked. "What-" Hearing the door open, he scrambled to pull the blanket tight around himself as Sousuke walked inside his room. The grin on the taller swimmer's face made the tips of his ears go red.

"What did you...why did you..."

"You're welcome." Was Sousuke's answer as he held out a cup to Haru.

Haru glanced at it with a critical eye before taking it, giving it a sniff. Sousuke snorted at his dark expression- he was acting like this was poisoned or something. "It's a smoothie. Fruit and liquids are supposed to help people with fevers." He explained.

Haru took a few sips to taste before looking over at Sousuke. "Why did you strip me?" He asked, drinking the smoothie wholeheartedly now.

"Baths are supposed to help bring the body's temperature down. So I figured, hey, why not give you a bath? Sorry about seeing you in your shining glory." Sousuke tossed a pair of boxers at Haru, watching them land right on his head.

Haru rolled his eyes behind the fabric and took another sip of his smoothie. They eventually slipped off his head, landing on the other side of his bed, forgotten. "I'm making you come over every time I get sick."

Sousuke just laughed and got comfy on the edge of Haruka's bed. "Whatever. I don't even like you." He said as he interlaced his fingers behind his head, laying back as much as possible in the small area. Hearing rustling beside him, teal eyes looked up to see Haru sitting up.

"You can lie down over here as long as you keep your hands to yourself." He remarked before lying back down, finishing off his drink.

"You're ever so generous to your benefactor." He rolled his eyes and climbed over to lie beside Haru, propping himself up on his elbows. "Believe me. If I wanted your body I had plenty of time to get it." He said before flopping onto his side, facing Haruka. "I don't want your scrawny ass."

Gorgeous was more like it, it fit perfectly in his hands, not that he'd ever vocalize it. It was unfair for one person to look so hot, especially one that was not his precious Rin.

Haruka rolled his eyes, completely oblivious to Sousuke's inner dialogue as he pulled the blanket tighter around himself. "Night Sousuke." And with that he went back to sleep.

Sousuke waited till he was convinced that Haru was completely asleep before taking the smaller swimmer's hand, examining it carefully. He bent the fingers, examining the delicate joints before touching the knuckles gently. "Do I have a hand fetish now?" He joked to himself softly, letting go of Haru's hand to run his fingers through the other male's hair instead, fingering the strands gently before choosing to trace his fingers down his spine. Fingers stopped at the dip in Haru's back, and Sousuke pulled his hand back, letting his hand rest on Haru's thigh.

"Goodnight Haru." He mumbled as he closed his eyes, letting sleep overtake him as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so sorry for the delay. School and a lack of motivation has kept me from this fic. But after reading/looking at a plentiful amount of SouHaru works, I'm back in business! Thanks for sticking by me and this story despite my laziness.
> 
> PS. There was really no reason for the little thing at the end with Sousuke being all touchy feely. I just wanted a reason to write a little snippet like that. To me, Sousuke has an artist's mind, and I don't know if any artists ever did this, but I like to look at hands and fingers and hair and bodies for perspective and just like touch them and move them to see what they would look like in this position or what different patterns can be found in fingertips and what bones feel like under skin...so yeah. Sousuke likes to do that. Alright I'm done being creepy.
> 
> PPS. here's a link to the smiles that sent Sousuke bonkers: http://sweet-reminders.tumblr.com/post/105253166837 you're welcome


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